Short-Term Goals: Definition and Examples

Short-term goals are goals that you want to accomplish in the near future. Short-term aspirations can be set to achieve today or over the next week, next month, or the next year. For example, a short-term goal in the workplace could be to increase productivity over the next 30 days. The goal of establishing short-term aspirations is to further your success and support your long-term goals. The more specific and actionable your short-term goal list is, the more likely you are to achieve each goal in a timely manner.

Short-term career goals are important because they allow you to ultimately achieve long-term goals. Setting a short-term goal can have the following benefits:

• Boosts motivation: Setting a short-term goal can be much easier than setting and achieving a long-term goal and allows you to realize results more quickly. Even small achievements can help motivate you to continue on with your goals and allow you to build momentum to keep moving forward.
• Mitigates procrastination: When you have clear goals and actionable steps in place to accomplish them, procrastination is often cut down and you’re more motivated to continue working even when the going gets tough.
• Provides a clear direction: A short-term goal list complete with the actions you need to take to reach those goals provides you with a clear direction in which to focus your attention and efforts. This can help prevent wasting time on activities that don’t further your goals and reduces wasted time and energy.
• Promotes your career success: Regularly setting and accomplishing goals is an important key to moving forward in your professional life. Without goals, it’s easy to get distracted and spend months or even years not making progress. Clearly established goals allow you to keep your eye on the prize and not lose sight of your long-term career goals.

Learn more: 5 Words You Should Never Use When Setting New Goals

The following are several short-term goals examples and why they are important:

Increase productivity and performance

Increasing your overall productivity will ultimately lead to improved performance in the workplace. This is one of the most common career-related goals and is a great way to directly promote increased success in your position. To set short-term productivity and performance goals, you should first establish how you’ll measure your performance, such as by keeping tracking of the quantity and efficiency of the work you produce. Keep track of these metrics on a daily basis and evaluate your progress at the end of each week.

Learn more: 3 Psychological Factors Negatively Impacting Your Productivity

Find a balance between work and life

When you’re working towards progressing your career, it’s easy to be consumed with work and want to put in as many hours as possible to accomplish your goals and improve your performance. However, this isn’t always the healthiest behavior and can quickly lead to burnout. If you find yourself spending long hours at work and taking little time for yourself outside of the office, improving your work-life balance may be a good short-term goal to set for yourself. When implemented effectively, you may notice improvements in your health, performance at work, and overall wellbeing.

Obtain a new certification

You can support and advance your career by earning a certification related to your position. There are also new technologies, industry trends, and ways of doing things, so staying up-to-date on this information will ensure you’re performing your job to the best of your ability and that you’re constantly learning. There are several courses and certifications you can obtain online, making it easy to work on this in your spare time.

Organize your work station

While this is a short-term goal that can be accomplished in a relatively short amount of time, it can greatly improve your work productivity and overall satisfaction in the workplace. Clutter and disorganization are major sources of distraction and can affect your productivity more than most people realize. Taking a few minutes each day to tidy up your office area will ensure your focused on work, not on the random pieces of paper laying around on your desk.

Improve a work-related skill

Most careers require both soft and hard skills to be successful. For example, if you’re a marketing manager, you’ll need to have excellent marketing skills and communication skills. Consider choosing one skill to focus on for the next month that will support your productivity and effectiveness in the workplace. You can keep track of the activities you complete to further hone this skill and test your abilities after a month’s time. Once you’ve mastered one skill, move onto another to continue supporting your success in the workplace.

Arrive at the office earlier

This short-term goal may appear simple on the surface, but it can have lasting effects on your overall workplace productivity and long-term career goals. Arriving at work even 10 or 15 minutes earlier than usual gives you more time to plan out your day, organize your office, and focus on tasks before the office is full of people. Plus, it shows that you’re committed to your job and are dedicated to excelling in your position, which can reflect positively on you and make a good impression on your employer.

Communicate more with coworkers

Increasing how often you communicate with coworkers can amplify your workplace experience and satisfaction. Make it a point to interact with at least two people each day at work, even if it’s only for a few minutes. This will help you hone your communication skills and can also allow you to build strong professional relationships.